Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 7: At My Desk, on Break, and at Lunch

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number seven. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, I’ll talk about working at my desk, going on a short break, and going to lunch.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

On the way to the office, I was thinking about what I have on my agenda today. When I get to my desk, there is a stack of new memos and papers in my inbox. When I turn on my computer, I see at least two-dozen emails I need to go through. Just as I start in on the email, my phone rings. It’s my project manager, Julie, asking me to come in for a conference call with our head office. I don’t get back to my desk for nearly two hours. By that time, I was ready for a break.

At 10:30, I head down to the break room and get some hot water at the water cooler to make some tea. There were a couple of other people on break, having snacks out of the vending machine and reading the new notices on the bulletin board. I run into Sam, one of my friends at work, and we chat a little before going back to work.

Before long, it’s time for lunch. I usually bring my lunch with me to work and eat it at my desk. If I don’t have time to pack a lunch, I sometimes go across the street for some take-out. The only trouble is, it’s always so busy during the lunch hour and I always have to stand in line. That’s usually a pain. On Fridays, I usually go out to lunch with a few friends from work. On casual Fridays, we can kick back a little and take it easy.

[End of Story]

Part six is called “At my Desk, on Break, and at Lunch.” Notice the use of those prepositions. Prepositions are very difficult to translate and many people get confused when you start learning another language trying to figure out those little words – which word should you use. There’s a difference between “at my desk” and “on my desk” and “in my desk.” Those all mean different things.

“On your desk” means something is on top of your desk, like your computer. “In your desk” means something is inside one of the drawers of your desks. “At your desk” means that you are sitting next to your desk – you are, we hope, working, like you’re supposed to be working right now, instead of listening to this episode.

“On break” is the expression we use when you are stopping work for a short time, usually ten, 15, maybe 20 minutes. “At lunch” means you are going to lunch – you are eating. We don’t say, “in lunch” or “on lunch,” we say, “at lunch.” The best way to learn those little prepositions is just to read and to listen more and more, and eventually, you will know them without even having to study them.

Our story begins by me saying that, “On the way to the office, I was thinking about what I have on my agenda today.” Your agenda, “agenda,” means your plan for today – what are the things that you have to do today. This could include meetings; it could include phone calls; you could have many different things on your agenda.

There’s another expression, “to have an agenda.” To have an agenda means that you have a plan, sometimes a secret plan that you don’t tell anyone about that makes you want to do a certain thing. It’s like having an opinion and trying to get other people to do what you want them to do; that’s to have an agenda. But here, agenda just means a list of things that you’re going to do.

“When I get to my desk, there is a stack of new memos and papers in my inbox.” Stack, you’ll remember, is when you have thin things on top of each other. You can have a stack of pancakes; here we have a stack of papers and memos. A “memo” (memo) is short for memorandum, and it is usually like a letter that you send to someone in your company – in your office. Your “inbox” (inbox) can be a little box on your desk where people put things for you to do, your boss, for example. And, when you are done with them, you can put them in your out box. Those terms, inbox and out box, are also used for email programs now.

When I turn on my computer, I have at least two-dozen emails I need to go through. The expression, “to go through,” here means I have to read them and maybe respond to them. Someone may say, “I have to go through my email,” they mean I have to read my email, and I have to respond, sometimes, to my email. I have to do that everyday, just like you do, but most of my emails come from you.

“Just as I start in on the email, my phone rings.” The expression “to start in on something” means to begin to do something. So, I start in on my phone calls, that means that I have many phone calls and I start making them – I begin making them.

There’s a different expression, to start in on someone – on a person, and if you start in on a person – on your brother, on your wife – that means that you are criticizing them – you’re saying something bad – something negative about them. When I was younger, if I didn’t do my homework, which was often, my mother would start in on me, meaning she would criticize me. “Jeffrey, do your homework!” The only person who calls me “Jeffrey” is my mother.

Back to our story, I said that my phone rang and it was my project manager, Julie. The manager is the person that is in charge of a certain group of people – someone who is the boss – and a project is just a set of things for you to do, usually related to each other. Well, my project manager, who’s like my boss, asked me to come in for a conference call with our head office. A “conference, (conference) call” is a telephone call with three or more people. And, that’s very common in American business and in international business to have a conference call so more than one person can talk on the telephone. The head office (head) is the same as the main office, and this is where the company has most of its important people who are working, it’s sometimes called its headquarters. The head office is the main office. The opposite of head office would be a branch office (branch). A branch office is a smaller office.

We were having a conference call with someone in our head office, and I didn’t get back to my desk – I didn’t return to my desk – for almost, or nearly two hours. By that time, I was ready for a break. At 10:30, I head down to the break room. The “break room” (break room) – two words – is a place in a building – in your office, where people can go and read and relax, perhaps eat their lunch, or eat some food, It’s a place for you to stop work and to relax a little or to talk to other people. I use the verb “to head down,” that simply means to go to somewhere. We sometimes use that expression when we are talking about going to a different place. “I’m going to head down to the boss’s office” – I’m going to go over to the boss’ office.

Well, “I head down to the break room” – I go to the break room – “and get some hot water from the water cooler.” The “water cooler” (cooler) is a little machine that has water and you can get hot water or you can get cold water. That expression, the water cooler, is very common. When people say, “I heard it at the water cooler,” or “around the water cooler,” that usually refers to people who are gossiping – who are talking about things they probably shouldn’t.

Well, I went to the water cooler and I made myself some tea, because I love drinking tea. There are “a couple of other people on break,” notice that we use that expression “on break” – people who have stopped working – “having snacks out of the vending machine.” A “snack” (snack) is a piece of food that you eat between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner, or between dinner and going to bed. A “vending machine” (vending) is a big machine where you can buy, usually, food. The verb “to vend” (vend) means to sell. So, it’s a place where you can sell food and you put your money in and you can press a button and you get things like cookies and potato chips, all the things that are not good for you in the vending machine.

Some people are also reading the new notices on the bulletin board. The “bulletin board” (bulletin board) – two words – is a big piece of usually wood or plastic where people put important messages for other people to read. You can have a bulletin board at your work; you can have a bulletin board in a school, and usually, it’s a place where different people can come and read the news or new things or new announcements.

“I run into Sam, one of my friends at work.” The verb “to run into” means I meet him although I was not expecting to meet him. So, “I run into Sam, and we chat a little before going back to work.” “To chat” (chat) means to talk, usually about something not very important.

“Before long, it’s time for lunch,” meaning after a short time, it’s time for lunch. Before long, means a short time or after a short time. “I usually bring my lunch with me to work and eat it at my desk.” Notice that use of “at my desk,” means I’m sitting by my desk and I’m eating my lunch – sounds kind of lonely.

“If I don’t have time to pack a lunch, I sometimes go across the street for some take-out.” “To pack” (pack) a lunch means to make your lunch at home – a sandwich, for example – and put that into a bag or a box that you take with you to work; that is to pack a lunch. If I don’t pack a lunch, I usually eat “take-out” (take-out.”) Take-out is when you go to a restaurant but you don’t eat at the restaurant – you don’t “dine in,” we would say, (dine) in, you don’t dine in, you do take-out. You could also have the restaurant deliver the food – bring the food to your house, or bring the food to your office, and we would call that delivery. So, you can dine in; you can do take-out, meaning you go to the restaurant, or you can have delivery – someone brings the food to you.

“The only trouble is,” I say, “it’s always so busy during the lunch hour.” The “lunch hour,” in most American companies, is from noon to one or 1:30, or 11:30 in the morning to maybe one o’clock in the afternoon. It’s usually longer than an hour, though in some companies, you only get one hour. Some companies, you only get 30 minutes to eat.

“I always have to stand in line” because it’s so busy. To stand in line means to wait behind other people. In England, they would say to queue; in the US we say to stand in line. I say, “That’s usually a pain.” When we say something is a “pain” (pain) we mean that it’s very inconvenient or uncomfortable – something you do not like. People will also say a pain in the neck or a pain in the “butt” (butt). Those are the same basic meanings. Something that’s a pain in the neck or a pain in the butt means it’s not something that you like, it’s very inconvenient.

“On Fridays, I usually go out to lunch” – I go to eat somewhere else – “with a few friends from work. On casual Fridays, we can kick back a little and take it easy.” “Casual” (casual) is the same as informal. In many companies in the United States, they have casual Friday, and that’s a day where you do not have to wear as nice of clothing. Maybe you’ll wear a t-shirt and not a suit jacket, or you don’t have to wear a tie, and it’s also a day where people feel a little more relaxed. Usually it has to do with what you can wear to work.

Well, in the story I say that “On casual Fridays, we can kick back a little and take it easy.” “To kick back” (kick back) – two words – means to relax. It’s an informal expression that means that you are relaxing, and take it easy also means relax. Kick back is a little more informal; it’s something that you might do, for example, with your friends. And, if you drink alcohol, you might have some alcohol and relax; that’s to kick back.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a normal speed.

[Start of story]

On the way to the office, I was thinking about what I have on my agenda today. When I get to my desk, there is a stack of new memos and papers in my inbox. When I turn on my computer, I see at least two-dozen emails I need to go through. Just as I start in on the email, my phone rings. It’s my project manager, Julie, asking me to come in for a conference call with our head office. I don’t get back to my desk for nearly two hours. By that time, I was ready for a break.

At 10:30, I head down to the break room and get some hot water at the water cooler to make some tea. There were a couple of other people on break, having snacks out of the vending machine and reading the new notices on the bulletin board. I run into Sam, one of my friends at work, and we chat a little before going back to work.

Before long, it’s time for lunch. I usually bring my lunch with me to work and eat it at my desk. If I don’t have time to pack a lunch, I sometimes go across the street for some take-out. The only trouble is, it’s always so busy during the lunch hour and I always have to stand in line. That’s usually a pain. On Fridays, I usually go out to lunch with a few friends from work. On casual Fridays, we can kick back a little and take it easy.

[End of story]

She always writes us a great script before kicking back at the end of the day. I speak of our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. Thank you, Lucy!

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan, thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

This course was produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Tse. Copyright 2006.

Glossary

agenda – schedule; calendar used to write down important dates or events

* Let me check my agenda to see if I have an afternoon free next week.

memo – a short document used in business to give information, usually within a company or organization

* She needs to write a memo to all the employees about the new vacation policy.

inbox – a container on one’s desk or a place in an email program filled with messages or documents that needs to be read and responded to

* Don’t you ever read the papers in your inbox? I put all the information you requested there last week.

to start in – to begin work on something; to begin to sort through something

* If you’ll start in on making the salad, I’ll get the chicken ready for baking.

project manager – a person responsible for a project

* Daniel isn’t a good project manager because he doesn’t understand how to follow a budget.

conference call – a phone call with more than two people

* In a conference call, it is sometimes difficult to know who is speaking. That’s why people should always say there names before making comments.

head office – the main office building in a company that has offices in more than one location

* Jacob is happy about his promotion to the head office but his family doesn’t want to move to Los Angeles.

to head down – to walk downstairs; to walk along a hallway

* Let’s head down to the basement and find out why the water heater isn’t working.

break room – a room where workers can relax, eat, and talk during their breaks from work

* In her company, the break room has free coffee and cookies all day.

water cooler – a machine that stores drinking water and has two openings: one for cold water and one for hot water

* The water cooler is empty but the water containers are too heavy for me to lift. Can anyone help me?

* I often take a short walk when I’m on break. The fresh air helps me think more clearly once I’m back in the office.

vending machine – a machine that accepts coins and dollar bills and gives out food, such as candy, cookies, chips, sandwiches, sodas, juices, and coffee

* This vending machine is full of cookies and chips. I wish there were some healthier foods in it.

bulletin board – a place on a wall where people can hang notices and announcements

* When she lost her dog, she put announcements on all the local bulletin boards asking people to call her if they found her dog.

to pack a lunch – to bring food from home to eat at the office or at school during the lunch break

* Ruth always packs the same lunch for herself: a turkey sandwich, an apple, and orange juice.

take-out – food that is bought at a restaurant but eaten at another place

* This restaurant has the best food in town, but it’s too noisy to eat here. Let’s order take-out.

lunch hour – an hour during the day when an employee eats lunch, often 12:00-1:00 p.m.

* I would like to eat during my lunch hour, but I often use the time to run errands like going to the bank and getting my hair cut.

casual Fridays – days when office workers are allowed to wear less formal clothing

* On casual Fridays, the bank lets its employees wear jeans and t-shirts, but shorts are never allowed.

to kick back – to relax

* After a busy week, all I feel like this doing is kicking back with a good movie.

Culture Note

Eating on a Busy Schedule

Families today “lead” (have; live) busy lives “balancing” (making enough time for) work, school, and play. Our busy schedules often mean that we don’t have time to make “meals” (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) for ourselves and find ourselves “grabbing” (getting quickly) food “on the go” (while going from one activity or place to another). Sometimes this food isn’t the healthiest for us.

The food we make at home “tends to be” (usually is) cheaper and healthier for us. Did you know that in 1960, 26% of the money spent on food in the United States was on food eaten away from home, and by 2011, that number had “jumped” (increased a lot) to 49%? That’s nearly half of the meals Americans eat.

Americans now buy and “consume” (eat) food away from home an average of four times a week, which can mean an extra eight pounds a year. The more we eat away from home, the more weight people tend to gain.

Our busy schedules don’t mean we have to eat unhealthy foods. We can “plan ahead” (prepare) and make a meal or a “snack” (small amount of food eaten in between meals) to take with us on days we know we’ll be “rushed” (hurried; without enough time). On the days when we don’t have time to plan ahead we can order healthier meal or smaller sizes.

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 6: The Commute to Work

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number six. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, the fifth of our 10-part special series on daily English, I’ll talk about commuting or traveling to work.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

I open my car door and throw my briefcase in the back seat, and get comfortable for my drive. I put my coffee mug into the cup holder, put the keys in the ignition, find the gas pedal, and start the car. My wife drove the car last night, so I have to re-adjust the rear view mirror and the side mirrors. I turn on the radio to listen to the drive time traffic report. I take the transmission out of park and into reverse, back out into the driveway into the street, close the garage door, and put the car into drive. I used to drive a stick shift, but as I get older, I like my automatic transmission more and more.

I usually take the freeway to the office, so I get on the onramp for the freeway and drive to where I have to get off. My office is only a few miles from the exit. I pull into the parking garage, swiping my key card to get in. I park, grab my briefcase and coffee, and head toward the elevator. And that only took 40 minutes!

[End of story]

Part five is called “The Commute to Work.” “Commute” (commute) can be both a noun and a verb. It means to go from your house to your work. Usually, if you live a long distance from your work, you would say, “I have a long commute.” Or, if you live close to work, you would have a short commute. If it’s a very long commute with lots of traffic, you might say, “I have a terrible commute” – a very bad commute.

The story begins by me saying that “I open my car door and throw my briefcase in the back seat.” So, I open my “front door” – the door that we would call the driver’s side, where the driver gets in, and in an American car, that is on the left side. Cars in Britain are on the right side, is the driver’s side. So, I get into the left side in the front door. If you have a car that has a back seat, you could have a two-door car or a four-door car. “Four doors” means that you have separate doors for the back seat.

The “seat” (seat) is what you sit in. So, the back seat is where people can sit behind you – behind the driver and behind the person next to the driver. We call the seats the passenger seats and the driver’s seat. The right side of the car is usually called the passenger side of the car.

I “get comfortable for my drive” – for my commute – notice we use drive there as a noun; it can be a verb and a noun. “I put my coffee mug into the cup holder.” A “mug” (mug) is just a big cup. We talk about coffee mugs, they’re big cups that you put your coffee into. In many cars, there is a special place for a cup or a bottle, and that’s called a “cup holder” (holder). It holds the cup so you can have your coffee in your car.

I “put the keys in the ignition.” The “keys” are, of course, what starts your car. It’s the piece of metal that you open your car door with – you unlock it. Well, you also start the car with your keys, and you put them into something called the “ignition.” And, the “ignition” (ignition) is the part of the car that starts the engine. Usually it makes a certain sound – a certain noise, and once the engine starts, then you don’t have to put the key forward, you just leave the key there, you take your hand off of it. The word ignition comes from the verb “to ignite” (ignite) which means to start a fire – to start something burning, and of course, a car burns gasoline, that’s what the engine does in order to make the car move.

After I put the keys into the ignition, I “find the gas pedal.” A “pedal” (pedal) is something you use to control with your feet usually the speed of something. So the gas pedal is the pedal that you press down to go faster, it gives the engine more gas. That word, pedal, can also be used as a verb. If you are on a bicycle, in order to make the bicycle move, you have to pedal because the things that your feet are on, on a bike, or a bicycle, are called pedals. Well, you don’t pedal your car, but you do have a gas pedal.

I “start the car,” and because “My wife drove the car last night, I have to re-adjust the rear view mirror.” “To re-adjust” means to adjust again. That prefix (re) means again in English, usually. “To adjust means” to-to move them so that I can see properly – I can see into the mirror. There are two types of mirrors on your car: there’s the “rear (rear) view (view) mirror” and that is in the front of the car, on the front window of the car. The front window of your car is called your “windshield” (windshield) – the windshield. So, on your windshield, on the top in the middle, is your rear view mirror, and that allows you to see cars behind you. There are also mirrors on the side of the car, usually on both sides, and those are called the side mirrors.

“I turn on the radio to listen to the drive time traffic report.” “Drive time” is the time of day when most people are either going to work or coming back from work. So, in the morning the drive time in Los Angeles, for example, is 7:30 to 9:30. Most people are going to work during those hours. In other cities it could be different; in some cities, it’s earlier than that. There’s also a drive time at the end of the day, between 5:00 and 7:00 here in Los Angeles, that’s when people are coming home from work.

So, the drive time traffic report is an announcement on the radio telling you if there are any accidents on the roads, if there is any “construction” – that is the government is fixing the road and it may be closed. And, it tells you if you are going to take a long time or not a long time. So, traffic reports tell you how fast the cars are moving on different, usually, freeways in American cities.

“I take the transmission out of park and into reverse.” The “transmission” (transmission) is the part of the car that determines how fast you go. It also determines if you go forward or backwards – if you’re going straight ahead or behind; that’s the transmission. Sometimes it’s called a “transmission box” (box) and inside of that box there are little wheels called “gears” (gears) and depending on the gear you are in, we would say, depending on the gear you are using, you will either go very fast or not very fast, or you will go in “reverse” (reverse). To go into reverse means to go backwards – the car moves backwards.

Well, before I go anywhere, I have to “take the transmission out of park,” (park). “Park” is when the car is not going forward or going backwards. We say you put the transmission into park, and you take it out of park. And when you take it out of park, you either go forward or backwards. Well, here I’m going in reverse, and I “back out into the driveway.” “To back out” means to go backwards. Usually that verb, to back out, is used when you are talking about a car or a truck that is leaving a garage, and it’s going in reverse – you back out of the garage. “I back out into the driveway” onto the street, or “into the street.” The “driveway” (driveway) is what connects the garage to the street. It’s the space that is in between your street and where your car is parked, your garage.

Some people actually don’t have a garage, and so they park in their driveway. They drive off the street and they park their car in the driveway, that piece of land where you can put your car. I like to park my car on my neighbor’s driveway so I have more room on my driveway. He doesn’t like it though. So, I back out of the garage, and then I “close the garage door, and put the car into drive.” Here’s another use of that word, drive. In this case, it means I’m putting it in a gear that will take me forward. So, to put a car into drive means that you change the position of the transmission so that your car will go forward and not backwards.

“I used to drive a stick shift, but as I get older, I like my automatic transmission more and more.” There are two kinds of transmissions – two kinds of cars. One is what we call an automatic transmission, where you put your car either into reverse or into drive, and that’s it. You don’t have to change anything.

Another kind of car is called a stick shift, or a manual transmission. “Manual” (manual) is the opposite of automatic; it means by hand. So, if you have a manual transmission, or a stick shift, you have to move the transmission each time you want to go faster or slower. The word “stick (stick) shift (shift)” (two words) is the same as a manual transmission. Some people say, “I drive a stick,” they mean, “I drive a stick shift.”

The word “shift” is also a verb, “to shift,” and that means to change. So, if you have a manual transmission – a stick shift – you shift from one gear to another. If you want to go faster, you have to shift into a higher gear. Well, if you don’t have a manual transmission, you don’t have to worry about it.

If you have a stick shift, you have an extra pedal in the car. Remember, we said that a pedal can be a gas pedal – something that makes you go faster. You also have a brake pedal that will slow or stop your car. And, if you have a stick shift, you have a third pedal, which we call the “clutch” (clutch). And in order to change from one gear to another, to go faster or slower or to go into reverse, if you have a stick shift, you have to press on or put your foot on the clutch so that you can change, or shift, gears.

“I usually take the freeway to the office, so I get on the onramp for the freeway.” The “onramp” (onramp) is what connects the street to the freeway. So, just like a driveway connects the street to your garage, an onramp connects the street to the freeway. The opposite of an onramp would be, of course, an off ramp, and that’s where you go off of the freeway and back to the street.

Well, I get onto the onramp, or “I get on the onramp and I drive to where I have to get off. My office is only a few miles from the exit.” The “exit” (exit) is where you leave the freeway. It can be a noun or it can be a verb. “To exit” means to leave, and normally, in a public building, a hotel or other areas, they have a sign that says, “exit,” so you know in case there is an emergency how to leave the room or leave the building. On an airplane, we have something called the emergency exits, and those are doors that you use if the plane is having problems. I hope you never have to use the emergency exits.

Well, this is an exit from the freeway, and “my office is only a few miles” after I get off of the freeway. “I pull into the parking garage,” the place at my work where you park or keep your car, and I swipe my key card to get in. A “key card” (key card) – two words – is like a credit card. It’s an electronic card that the company gives you that allows you to get in and out of a garage, in and out of the building, maybe even in and out of your office, and it’s an electronic card, like a credit card. To swipe is the verb we use when we talk about credit cards or key cards. “To swipe,” (swipe) means to take the card and put it into what we would call a reader very quickly. So, for a credit card, the clerk will swipe the card – will put it through the machine very quickly. For a key card, you put it through the machine so you can get into somewhere. It’s a key – an electronic key.

I “park my car,” I “grab my briefcase and my coffee” – very important, my coffee – and I “head toward the elevator.” “To head toward something” means to walk in that direction or move in that direction. So, I walk toward the elevator, and my whole trip “only took 40 minutes.”

Americans love to complain about how terrible their commutes are. In some cities, 30 or 40 minutes is considered a long commute, and in some cities, like Los Angeles, it’s considered an average commute. In other countries, some people commute an hour or an hour and a half in order to get to their work.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a regular speed.

[Start of story]

I open my car door and throw my briefcase in the back seat, and get comfortable for my drive. I put my coffee mug into the cup holder, put the keys in the ignition, find the gas pedal, and start the car. My wife drove the car last night, so I have to re-adjust the rear view mirror and the side mirrors. I turn on the radio to listen to the drive time traffic report. I take the transmission out of park and into reverse, back out into the driveway into the street, close the garage door, and put the car into drive. I used to drive a stick shift, but as I get older, I like my automatic transmission more and more.

I usually take the freeway to the office, so I get on the onramp for the freeway and drive to where I have to get off. My office is only a few miles from the exit. I pull into the parking garage, swiping my key card to get in. I park, grab my briefcase and coffee, and head toward the elevator. And that only took 40 minutes!

[End of story]

That concludes part five of “A Day in the Life of Jeff: The Commute to Work.” In part six, we actually get to work and go to lunch.

This course has been a production of the Center for Educational Development, in beautiful Los Angeles, California. Visit our website at eslpod.com.

This course was produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Tse. Copyright 2006.

Glossary

back seat – the rear (second row) seats in a car, where passengers (not the driver) sit

* On the long drive across the country, they took turns driving. While one person drove, the other slept in the back seat.

cup holder – a round hole on the inside of a car for holding cups or cans of soda

* He tried to put his can of soda in the cup holder while he was driving and ended up spilling it all over the floor.

ignition – a small opening near a steering wheel into which one puts a key to start the car

* They accidentally locked their car while the keys were still in the ignition!

gas pedal – a piece of metal that a driver pushes with his or her foot to give the car more gas and to make it go faster

* She pushed the gas pedal to the floor because she was in a big hurry.

rearview mirror – a rectangular mirror near the driver’s head that allows the driver to see behind the car

* I stopped my car when I saw the police car in my rearview mirror.

side mirror – a small mirror outside the car near the front windows that allows the driver to see the side of the car and behind the car

* Grandma drove too close to the building and hit her side mirror against the wall.

drive-time traffic report – a radio announcement during rush hour (times of heavy traffic) that tells drivers where there are accidents and slow traffic

* According to the drive-time traffic report, there were three accidents on the freeway, so we drove home using Main Street instead.

transmission – the system that passes energy from the car’s engine to its wheels

* I couldn’t believe it when the mechanic said that I needed to replace my car’s transmission and that it would cost more than $2,000!

out of park – to take the car out of an unmoving position into a moving position

* I took the transmission out of park, but nothing happened because there wasn’t any gas in the car.

reverse – backward motion; going back

* Driving in reverse is always more difficult than driving forward.

driveway – a short length of road leading from the main road to the entrance or garage of a house or office building

* When she gets home from work everyday, she walks down the driveway to pick up the mail from her mailbox.

drive – forward motion; going forward

* He put the car into drive and started to leave, but then he stopped because he remembered that he had left some important papers at home.

stick shift – manual transmission; a car in which the driver uses a lever to put the car in gears 1 through 5 or in reverse

* Driving a stick shift requires a lot of concentration for me because I’m always worried that I’ll shift into reverse by accident.

automatic transmission – a car in which gears 1 through 5 change automatically without the driver needing to do anything

* Many people prefer driving automatic transmissions because it leaves them with one hand available to change radio stations or to hold a cell phone.

onramp – a short road for cars to speed up and enter a highway or freeway

* The first onramp was closed due to an accident so we had to drive to the next onramp to get on the freeway.

exit – a short road for cars to leave a highway or freeway and connect to other roads

* Do you know which exit we need to take to get to the beach?

parking garage – a large building with many floors for cars to park

* This parking garage only charges $5 for three hours, so let’s park here.

to swipe – to quickly pass a card through a machine that reads it

* I tried to swipe my credit card several times before realizing that it was broken.

key card – a plastic card that tells a machine whether a person has permission to enter a building

* When he lost his key card, he had to talk to security for two hours before they would let him into the building.

Culture Note

High School Teachers

High school teachers help prepare students for life after “graduation” (completion of their degree). They teach “academic” (related to reading, math, science and other traditional school subjects) lessons and various skills that students will need to attend college and to enter the “job market” (group of people available and looking for work).

High school teachers generally teach students from the ninth through twelfth (9-12) grades to students between 13 and 19 years of age. They usually teach one or two of the subjects or classes a student has throughout the day. For example, they may teach U.S. government and history.

Most high school teachers work in either public or private schools. All states require teachers in public schools to be licensed, which is frequently referred to as a “certification.” Those who teach in private schools are not required to be licensed.

Requirements for certification vary by state. All states require public high school teachers to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Most states require high school teachers to have “majored in” (had as the focus of their university study) a content area, such as chemistry, English, or history. While majoring in a content area, future teachers typically also “enroll in” (register for) a teacher preparation program and take classes in education while in college.

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 5: Getting Dress and Ready for Work

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number five. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, I’ll talk about getting dressed and ready for work.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

I go back into my bedroom and open up closet door. I have about 30 dress shirts, 10 pairs of pants, a half-dozen ties, and some sweaters, suit jackets, and t-shirts. I pull out a clean pair of socks and underwear, and then decide which shirt I’m going to wear today. I’m terrible at color coordinating, so I usually bring my wife in at this point to help match my shirt and pants. I put on my belt with the silver buckle and polish my shoes. I put my cell phone and car keys in my front pocket, and my wallet in the back one.

I put on my glasses and check myself in the mirror to make sure I look okay, and then go into the home office to get my bag. I used to carry a more traditional briefcase, but now I just use my computer bag to hold my laptop and my papers. Now it’s back into the kitchen to grab my Thermos on the way out the door. I lock the door and then hurry to my car in the garage. I’m usually running late and today is no exception!

[End of story]

Part four is called “Getting Dressed and Ready for Work.” We began by me going into the bedroom and opening up my closet door. “To open up” means here to open the door. A “closet” (closet) is a place, usually in your bedroom, where you put clothes—you store your clothing. You can also have a closet in other parts of your house, and it’s usually a place where you keep things—you store things.

Well, I “open up my closet door” and I look at my dress shirts. My “dress (dress) shirts” – two words. are the nice shirts, the shirts that I can wear to work. The opposite of a dress shirt would be a “casual shirt” (casual). A dress shirt is a nice shirt; something that usually has a collar on it. A “collar” (collar) is the top of the shirt, what goes around the neck.

Well, I look at my dress shirts and I look, also, at my “pants” (pants). Pants are what you put on your legs. You can have different kinds of pants. Jeans is a type of pants. We might say dress pants for nice pants that you would wear to work. I also have “ties”. A “tie” (tie) is a long, thin thing that goes around your neck that men usually wear—often wear to work, and it comes in different colors, and that’s your tie.

A “sweater” (sweater) is something that keeps you warm. It’s like a shirt that’s very thick. You usually put a sweater over your shirt so that you can be warm. “Suit jackets” (suit jackets) – two words – are jackets that you wear that are for a formal occasion. So, if you are going to work, especially if you were going to an interview, you would wear a suit jacket. The word “suit” (suit) refers to a formal set of clothing for, in this case, a man. For a man it would be pants and a, probably, white shirt and a suit jacket that goes over your shirt. Usually, you would also have a tie that you wear. That’s a suit. Well, a suit jacket is part of a suit.

A “t-shirt,” spelled (t-shirt)is a plain shirt that you usually wear underneath a dress shirt. So first, you put on a t-shirt—a white t-shirt—then you would put on your shirt, and then you would put on you jacket. T-shirts can also be used by themselves as your main shirt. It is usually an informal occasion that you would just wear a t-shirt. You probably wouldn’t wear a t-shirt to your office, for example, though some people do. And, many people have t-shirts that have things on them—that say things on them. T-shirts usually do not have a collar like a dress shirt does.

“I pull out a pair of socks and underwear.” “Socks” (socks) are the things you put on your feet before you put your shoe on. Socks can be dark, or they can be light or white socks. Normally you don’t wear white socks with a formal suit; you would wear black or dark blue socks.

“Underwear” is the piece of clothing that you put on and it covers up all of the—how should we say—things that you want to cover so that you can keep your pants and shirt clean. Underwear is something that goes over your back of your body, your butt or your rear, as well as the front of the body, whatever you have there. Underwear can come for men in two basics styles usually. There can be boxer underwear, or “boxer” shorts (boxer) and that’s a kind of short—or rather, a kind of underwear that it is loose on the bottom. So, it’s almost like a pair of shorts. The opposite of that would be “briefs” (briefs). Briefs would be underwear that is not loose at the bottom; it’s tight at the bottom of the underwear. Usually it’s a little smaller as well.

I “then decide which shirt I’m going to wear today. “I’m terrible,” I say, “at color coordinating.” “Color coordinating” means you wear things that have similar or matching colors. So, if you wore a pink shirt you would probably not wear green pants because they don’t do together, we would say; they don’t look very good with each other. Color coordinating is finding the right colors that you wear on your—with your shirt, and your pants, and your tie, and your jacket, and your socks, and your shoes. All of those have to be color coordinated. The verb “to coordinate,” (coordinate) means to put two things together so that they work well together, in this case.

Well, since I’m so terrible—I’m so bad—at color coordinating I usually bring in my wife, that is I go and ask my wife to come into the room. So, I “bring my wife in”—to the room— “at this point to help me,” meaning at this time, when I’ve already picked out some things, then I bring my wife to help me “match my shirt and pants.” I want them color coordinate.

“I put on my belt with the silver buckle and polish my shoes.” A “belt” (belt) is what you use to keep your pants from falling down. A buckle is the piece of, usually, metal in the front that connects the belt so it forms a circle around your body. I have a silver buckle that I put on with my belt.

I also “polish my shoes.” “To polish” (polish) means to clean and to make “shiny” (shiny). When we say something is shiny, we mean that it’s bright—it reflects light. So, when you polish your shoes, you want them to be clean but you also want them to look like they are bright—they are reflecting light. I polish my shoes and my head, so it’s very shiny!

“I put my cell phone,” my cellular or mobile phone, “and car keys in my front pocket.” You have front pockets and you have back pockets in a pair of pants. So, I put my keys and cell phone in the front pocket “and my wallet in the back” pocket. My “wallet” (wallet) is where I put my money and my credit cards and my driver’s license; all of those things go in my wallet.

“I put on my glasses,” because I cannot see without my glasses very well, and I “check myself in the mirror.” “To check yourself” means to look at yourself, usually in a mirror, and you can see how you look. I usually look pretty ugly. I check myself in the mirror, and then I go into my “home office,” or my office in my house and get my bag. I used to carry a more traditional briefcase.” A “briefcase” (briefcase) – all one word – is not something that you put your underwear in—your briefs. A briefcase means the thing that you carry papers in when you are going from your home to your office. Usually a briefcase is square and it usually has hard sides on it, many times it has a lock on the top; that’s a briefcase. A lot of people nowadays do not use a briefcase; they use a computer bag—a bag that they can put their computer and other information in, including their papers.

Well, I put my things into my computer bag, then I go “back into the kitchen to grab my Thermos,” to get or take my Thermos with my coffee in it “on the way out the door.” The expression, “on the way out,” means that you are about to leave or you are leaving your house, in this case. Somebody may call you on the phone and you are getting ready to go to dinner, you could say, “I can’t talk right now, I’m on my way out the door,” means I’m just getting ready to leave.

Well, before I leave—before I’m going out the door—I “grab my Thermos. I lock the door,” to my house, “and then I hurry to my car in the garage.” The “garage” (garage) is the place where you keep your car.

“I’m usually running late and today is no exception!” When you are running late, you are behind your schedule; you’re behind time that you want to be somewhere. “To run late” means the same as to be late or to be tardy (tardy). Usually that word, “tardy,” is only used in school. We say a student is tardy, we mean that they are late for school or late for class. To be running late means that you are not on the schedule that you want to be on—that you did not leave at the time you wanted to leave.

I say “I’m running late and today is no exception!” That expression, “is no exception” (exception) means that today is the same as every other day—it is not different. An exception is when something is different. Well, today is no different, that means today is no exception—it is not different.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a normal speed.

[Start of story]

I go back into my bedroom and open up my closet door. I have about 30 dress shirts, 10 pairs of pants, a half-dozen ties, and some sweaters, suit jackets, and t-shirts. I pull out a clean pair of socks and underwear, then decide which shirt I’m going to wear today. I’m terrible at color coordinating, so I usually bring my wife in at this point to help match my shirt and pants. I put on my belt with the silver buckle and polish my shoes. I put my cell phone and car keys in my front pocket, and my wallet in the back one.

I put on my glasses and check myself in the mirror to make sure I look okay, and then go into the home office to get my bag. I used to carry a more traditional briefcase, but now I just use my computer bag to hold my laptop and my papers. Now it’s back into the kitchen to grab my Thermos on the way out the door. I lock the door and then hurry to my car in the garage. I’m usually running late and today is no exception!

[End of story]

Her scripts are always great, and this one is no exception. I speak of our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan, thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

closet – a very small room or a piece of furniture for storing clothes and shoes

* Kevin needs to stop buying so many clothes. He can’t even close his closet doors!

dress shirt – a man’s shirt worn for office work, with a collar, buttons, and long sleeves

* Do you think it’s okay for a man to wear a pink dress shirt to work?

pants – clothing worn over the legs

* Jennifer couldn’t decide whether she wanted to wear pants or a skirt, so she chose a dress instead.

tie – a long, narrow piece of fabric worn around a man’s neck

* He doesn’t like wearing ties because he says they make it hard for him to breathe.

sweater – a heavy, knitted shirt made of cotton or wool yarn (material that looks like a thick string)

* It’s very cold outside, so you and your sister should put on your sweaters if you want to play at the park.

suit jacket – a piece of formal clothing worn over a shirt, with long sleeves and buttons on the front, usually worn in formal business settings

* The sleeves of his suit jacket are too short. He needs to buy a new one for his interview.

t-shirt – a comfortable, casual, short-sleeved cotton shirt with no collar, often with a design or picture on the front

* You don’t have to dress up to come to my party. I plan to just wear a t-shirt and jeans.

socks – clothing worn on one’s feet

* In the winter, I wear socks and shoes, but in the summer, I prefer to wear sandals without socks.

underwear – clothing worn next to the skin and under other clothing

* We have to do laundry today because I don’t have any clean underwear!

to color coordinate – to identify things that look good together because they have the same or colors that look good together

* Her bedroom walls, floors, pictures, and toys are all color coordinated. I have never seen so much green in one room!

buckle – a piece of metal used to connect two ends of a belt, shoe, or bag

* American cowboys often wore large belt buckles with images of their daily life.

to polish – to rub something to make it shine

* Before going to the wedding, I need to polish my black shoes so they’ll look nice with my suit.

wallet – a piece of leather or heavy fabric with many pockets that is used to store money and credit cards

* He needed to clean out his wallet because it was too full of business cards and receipts to fit in his pocket.

to check (oneself) – to look at oneself, searching for something that looks wrong or is out of place

* I wish I had checked myself in the mirror before the big meeting because I had food between my teeth.

briefcase – a flat bag with a handle to carry documents, usually used by office workers to carry papers between their home and the office

* She forgot her briefcase at home and had to ask her husband to bring it to her at the office so she’d have her notes for the presentation.

garage – a room in a house for parking cars

* They have so many things in their garage that they almost don’t have room to park their car!

to run late – to be delayed; to be behind schedule; to be in a hurry because one needs to be somewhere very soon

* I didn’t have time to say goodbye to everyone at the lunch meeting because I was running late for my flight back to New York.

today is no exception – today is the same; today is not different

* I usually receive a lot of emails and today is no exception. This morning I had 238 messages in my inbox!

Culture Note

Reducing Access to Sugary Beverages Among Young People

“Sugar-sweetened beverages” (drinks made sweeter with sugar) are the largest source of added sugars in the “diet” (what people eat and drink each day) of U.S. “youth” (children and teenagers). Drinking these beverages increases the “intake” (putting into the body) of “calories” (units of energy for the body), which “contributes to” (adds to) “obesity” (being very fat or overweight) among youth across the country.

In the United States, childhood obesity has more than “tripled” (multiplied by three; x 3) in the past 30 years. In recent “decades” (periods of 10 years), drinking of sugar-sweetened beverages among children and teenagers has also increased. A national 2010 “survey” (questionnaire; piece of research) showed that although water, milk, and 100% fruit juice were the beverages most commonly “consumed” (drunken) during the seven days before the survey, daily drinking of regular soda, sports drinks, and other sugar-sweetened drinks were also very common.

Parents should help children and teenagers to make healthy beverage choices by making available or only buying certain drinks at the store. By doing this, parents can encourage their children to drink water and low-fat or fat-free milk, and/or limited amounts of 100% fruit juices.

Since young people spend a “significant portion” (large part) of each “weekday” (Monday through Friday) in school, making sure that healthy beverage choices are available—and that less “nutritious” (good for the body) ones are not—is “critical” (very important). “Implementing” (establishing) school “policies” (rules) that “restrict” (limit) access to sugar-sweetened beverages is an especially important for reducing childhood obesity and improving students’ nutritional health.

Complete TranscriptWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 4: Eating Breakfast

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number four. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, the third of our 10-part special series on daily English, I’ll talk about eating breakfast in the morning.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

I walk into my kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker. I always put the coffee, filter, and water in the night before so it’s ready to go. Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the cereal is stored. I would love to have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles, but the truth is that I just don’t have the time to cook.

So, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and put in a glass of skim milk, making sure I take a spoon out of the silverware tray. I go outside and pick up my newspaper, and sit down at the kitchen table. I love reading the paper in the morning, though usually I just have time to read a few of the stories. When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana and maybe make a slice of toast with jam. I rinse off my breakfast dishes in the sink and put them in the dishwasher. By that time, my coffee is ready so I pour myself a cup and put the rest in a Thermos for work.

[End of story]

In this episode, we are eating our breakfast. I begin by walking into my kitchen and turning on the coffeemaker. Notice these verbs, “to walk into” or “to walk in,” “to turn on.” Those two-word verbs are very common in English. So, I don’t just walk to my kitchen, “I walk into my kitchen and I turn on the coffeemaker.”

The “coffeemaker,” (coffeemaker) – all one word – is the machine that, you can guess, makes the coffee; that’s the coffeemaker. Usually, a coffeemaker has water on the top—place where you put the water—and then, it has a place for the actual coffee. Now, you take the coffee and you put it into a piece of paper or a piece of plastic called a filter. The “filter” (filter) is something that allows the water to go through it, but doesn’t allow the coffee to go through it.

So, you put the coffee into the filter and the hot water goes through the coffee, it goes out of the filter and goes into the “coffee pot” (pot) the coffee pot is on the bottom. So, you have the coffee, the coffee filter, and the coffee pot. After the water goes through the coffee, what you have to throw out—what you have to remove when you are done—are called the “coffee grounds” (grounds)

Well, “I put in the coffee, the filter, and the water the night before,” meaning, in this case, last night, “so that it is ready to go,” meaning when I walk into the kitchen, it is already ready, I just have to turn it on. Some coffeemakers have clocks that will automatically turn your coffeemaker on in the morning.

“Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the cereal is stored.” The “cupboard” – cupboard – which looks like the word “cup” and the word “board” put together, but is pronounced cupboard — a cupboard is like a cabinet. It’s a place where you store things — a place where you keep things. “To store” (store) – as a verb, means to keep something in a place — to keep something in a cupboard, or cabinet, or a box. Well, the cupboard is what we call the cabinets that are in the kitchen. They’re the like wooden boxes that have doors on them that you can put things in. Usually, if it’s a big cupboard, you have different “shelves” (shelves) the singular is “shelf” (shelf).

Well, I go into the cupboard and I get the cereal out. The “cereal” (cereal) is a very popular breakfast in the United States. It’s usually dry and you put milk in a bowl, with the cereal, and eat the cereal and the milk together. I love cereal in the morning. I really do; I have cereal every morning. Since I was, I think, five years old, I’ve been eating cereal.

I take the cereal out — where it is stored in the cupboard — and I prepare my breakfast. I say in the story that “I would love to have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning.” “Ham” is a type of meat that comes from a pig; it usually has a lot of salt in it. Another kind of meat that’s popular in the morning for breakfast is “bacon” (bacon) which is also meat that comes from a pig. It is long and thin usually; it’s cut to be long and thin. Eggs are the things that come from chickens — or does the chicken come from the egg? I’m not sure.

Anyway, we have ham and eggs, which is a very popular American breakfast. Many people in the United States eat what we would call a very heavy breakfast, meaning there’s lots of fat and there’s lots of food. In some countries, this is not done, but in the United States it’s very common for people to have eggs and ham for breakfast. My father used to have eggs every morning for breakfast before he went to work.

Well, I say, “I would love to have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles.” A “waffle” (waffle) is something that is made from batter. “Batter” (batter) when we talk about cooking is a liquid, made usually with eggs, and flower, and perhaps milk, and you combine these things together and you get a thick liquid, which we call batter, and you take the batter and you put it into a special cooking machine, which we call a “waffle iron” (iron) And, a waffle iron has a certain shape, usually it’s square, and when you put the batter in, you close the top of it and you cook it from both sides. And, when you take it out, it has little squares in it, and this is called a waffle. It’s a kind of almost like a bread. And, after you make the waffle, you usually put some special type of liquid sugar, which we call “syrup” (syrup). Often, this comes from trees; the best syrup comes from maple leaf trees. It’s called maple syrup; it’s very good. And, you put that thick sugar liquid on top of the waffle. You can also put some sort of fruit on top of the waffle also; I just like the sugar, myself.

Something similar to a waffle is a “pancake” (pancake) – all one word – and a pancake is also made from this batter — this liquid — thick liquid — except it goes into a flat pan on your stove and you flip it over. So, it’s completely flat, there are no squares in it, usually it’s round, and that’s called a pancake.

Both waffles and pancakes can be in stacks. A “stack” (stack) is when you have one long, thin thing on top of another. So, you can have a stack of paper, pieces of paper one on top of the other. The same is true with a waffle or with pancakes. You can have a stack of waffles, one waffle on top of another, or a stack of pancakes. Usually, we talk about a stack of pancakes. If you go to a restaurant and you order breakfast and you want pancakes, sometimes they will ask you if want a “short stack,” meaning just one or two, or you might have a regular stack, which could be four or five. Remember, Americans eat a big breakfast, that’s why there’s so many big Americans.

Getting back to our story, I am not having ham, eggs or waffles; I’m having a bowl of cereal. And, to prepare my cereal, I put it into a bowl and I pour skim milk on top. “Skim (skim) milk” is milk with no or very little fat in it. Milk comes in four different types: you have whole milk, which has the most fat; you have two percent milk, which has somewhat less fat; you can have one percent, which is even less fat; or you can have fat free, or skim, milk, which has little or no fat at all. Well, because I don’t want to be a big American, I have skim milk.

In order to eat my cereal, I have to take a spoon out of the silverware tray. The “silverware” (silverware) – all one word – is the name we give the knife, the fork, and the spoon together. Sometimes those are called silverware even though they are not made of silver. Other people in a restaurant may call them utensils. “Utensils” (utensils). If you go to a restaurant and you sit down and you don’t have a spoon or a fork or a knife, you would ask the waiter or waitress for some utensils, or you could just say, “I need some silverware.”

A “silverware tray” (tray) is a place where you put the silverware — you put the utensils, the forks, the spoons, the knives — in a drawer. And, usually a tray is like a little box that has holes in it for specific things. That word, tray, can also be used to describe a small, flat piece of plastic or wood that you use to carry things on, like your dishes.

Well, I get my spoon, and I go out and I get my newspaper, which, of course, is what has the news, the sports, and the international and national news. Many Americans like to read a newspaper in the morning, just like people all over the world do. “I “sit down at the kitchen table and I read the paper.” Sometimes we call a newspaper just the paper. Someone says, “I read it in the paper this morning,” they mean the newspaper.

Usually I just have time to read a couple of stories, a few of the stories. When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana and maybe make a slice of toast with jam.” “To grab” (grab) means to take something, usually with your hand. “To grab something with your hand” means to pick it up — to take it with your hand. “I grab a banana,” which I like to eat, and “a slice of toast with jam.”

“Toast” (toast) is bread that you put in something called a “toaster” (toaster) and the toaster heats up the bread until the bread is brown on the outside. “A slice of toast” (slice) is a piece of toast. We use the words slice when we are talking about one piece of bread, or one piece of cake. You can have a slice of cake; you can also have a slice of pie.

This is a slice of toast, which is bread that we put in a toaster, and we toast the bread. We can use toast as a verb as well. And, after I toast the bread, I can put butter on it or I can put “jam” (jam). And, jam is made from fruit — such as strawberries — and sugar, and they put them together and it makes a thick liquid that you can put on a piece of toast. We would say we spread the jam on the toast. We use that verb “spread” (spread) to talk about putting butter or putting jam on a piece of toast, usually with a knife.

When I am done with my breakfast, “I rinse off my breakfast dishes.” “To rinse” means to clean something with water. To rinse off is the verb. You could just say, “I rinse my breakfast dishes,” but we like those two-word verbs in English and so we would probably say, “rinse off my breakfast dishes.”

I rinse them off in the sink, and I put them in the dishwasher. The “dishwasher” (dishwasher) is a machine that cleans the dishes. Some families have dishwashers. The joke that we make sometimes in English is that someone —when someone says, “Oh, do you have a dishwasher?” and you say, “Yes, I am the dishwasher,” which means you don’t have a machine that washes your dishes; you wash your dishes by yourself. We would say you wash them by hand.

But the time I’m finished rinsing off my breakfast dishes, my coffee is ready and so, I pour myself a cup. Notice the use of that verb, “pour.” We use that verb when we are removing liquid from a bottle and putting it into a cup or a glass. We also used that verb, “pour,” when I said, “I pour myself a bowl of cereal.” Now, cereal isn’t liquid, but it is something that you can put into another container, in this case, into a bowl, and it comes out of the bigger container and into the smaller container. So, it comes out of the cereal box and goes into the bowl. So, we use that verb usually when we talk about liquid things like water or milk, but you can also use it when we talk about cereal.

Well, “I pour myself a cup” of coffee and I “put the rest in a Thermos for work.” A Thermos, which is “Thermos,” is a bottle that keeps hot liquid hot and cold liquid cold. So, if you have hot coffee and you put it into a Thermos, the Thermos—this bottle—will keep it hot for a long time.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a regular speed.

[Start of story]

I walk into my kitchen and turn on the coffeemaker. I always put the coffee, filter, and water in the night before so it’s ready to go. Next, I open the door of the cupboard where the cereal is stored. I would love to have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning, or maybe a stack of waffles, but the truth is that I just don’t have the time to cook.

So, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and put in a glass of skim milk, making sure I take a spoon out of the silverware tray. I go outside and pick up my newspaper, and sit down at the kitchen table. I love reading the paper in the morning, though usually I just have time to read a few of the stories. When I’ve finished my cereal, I grab a banana and maybe make a slice of toast with jam. I rinse off my breakfast dishes in the sink and put them in the dishwasher. By that time, my coffee is ready so I pour myself a cup and put the rest in a Thermos for work.

[End of story]

You’ll want to grab a copy of anything written by our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. It is sure to help you with your English.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan, thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossarycoffeemaker – a machine that makes coffee by passing hot water through ground coffee beans

* Scott has a very small coffeemaker that makes only two cups of coffee each time.

filter – a thin piece of paper that allows liquid to pass though, but prevents the ground coffee beans from getting through

* This morning, his cup of coffee had a lot of small pieces of coffee beans in it because he forgot to put the filter in his coffeemaker.

the night before – the previous night; yesterday night

* I always choose my clothes the night before, so that I can get dressed more quickly the next morning.

cupboard – a wooden box with shelves and a door that hangs on a kitchen wall and is used to store plates, glasses, and other things

* Please dry the plates and put them back in the kitchen cupboard above the stove.

cereal – a food made from grains (wheat, oats, barley) that is eaten with cold milk for breakfast

* I’ve never known anyone who liked to eat cereal as much as he does. He eats it for breakfast and dinner!

to store – to keep; to put something in a place to use later

* Where should we store these bicycles? Do you have room in the garage?

ham and eggs – a traditional American breakfast of fried, salted pork and eggs

* I’m like to order some toast to go with my ham and eggs.

stack – a pile of objects resting on each other that goes up

* When her boyfriend saw that she was carrying a huge stack of books to her class, he offered to help her.

waffle – a square piece of thick, sweet bread with small square shapes on each side, usually eaten for breakfast with syrup, honey, or jam

* To make waffles, you will need flour, sugar, salt, eggs, and milk.

skim milk – milk that has no fat

* She asked her assistant to get her a cup of coffee with a little skim milk and no sugar.

silverware tray – a container that holds forks, knives, and spoons

* Once the forks are dry, please put them in the silverware tray.

newspaper – large pieces of paper printed with news and advertisements, usually produced daily or weekly

* We get the Sunday newspaper delivered to our house so we don’t need to go to the store to buy it.

to grab – to quickly take something with one’s hand

* He grabbed the child’s hand and pulled her away from the busy street.

* I usually have a slice of toast with jam for breakfast, but today I didn’t have time.

to rinse off – to use water to remove dirt or small pieces of food from an object

* She didn’t have time to wash the dishes this morning, but she rinsed them off so that it wouldn’t be too difficult to wash later.

dishwasher – a machine that washes dishes

* The dishwasher broke right before the party and we had to wash all of the dishes by hand.

thermos – a container that has a tight lid that keeps liquids warm or cold

* He always carries two thermoses to work, one for his coffee and the other one for his soup.

Culture NoteDentists

Dentists “diagnose” (identify the source of a problem or illness) and treat problems with a patient’s teeth, “gums” (the soft, pink material that helps to hold teeth in place), and related parts of the mouth. They provide advice and instruction on taking care of teeth and gums and on “diet” (what one eats and drinks) choices that affect “oral” (mouth) health.

Dentists use a variety of materials and equipment. They wear “masks” (covering over the mouth or face), “gloves” (covering over the hands), and “safety glasses” (covering the eyes) to protect themselves and their patients from “infectious” (able to be transmitted or transferred from one person to another) diseases.

Dentists also use different types of equipment, including “x-ray machines,” which take pictures of the body under the skin, and “drills,” tools that turn very quickly to make holes in hard surfaces.

Most dental students need at least a bachelor’s degree before entering dental school. All dental schools require applicants to have completed certain required science courses, such as “biology” (the study of living things) and “chemistry” (the study of the substances that matter or things are composed of). “Majoring in” (selecting as one’s main focus of university study) a science, such as biology, might increase the chances of being accepted, but no specific major is required to enter most dental programs.

College undergraduates who plan on applying to dental school must usually take the Dental Acceptance Test (DAT) during their “junior year” (third year) of college. Admission to dental school can be “competitive” (difficult to achieve or get). Dental schools use these tests, along with other factors such as “grade point average” (the average of one’s grades from individual courses) and recommendations, to admit students into their programs.

Dentists must be licensed in all states; requirements vary by state. In most states, a license requires a degree from an “accredited” (official, having met state or federal requirements) dental school and passing a written and “practical” (using one’s hands to complete tasks) exam.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode number three. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

In this episode, the second of our 10-part special series on daily English, I’ll talk about getting cleaned up in the morning to go to work.

Let’s get started!

[Start of story]

I go into my bathroom sometime around 6:45 a.m. My sink and medicine cabinet are on the left when you enter my bathroom. The toilet is next to that, with the tub in front. Anyway, I turn on the lights, and try to find the mouthwash in the medicine cabinet. I pour a small amount into a cup, swish it around for 30 seconds, gargle, and spit. Not pleasant, but necessary. Then I get out the floss. When I’m done flossing, I pull out the toothbrush and the toothpaste. I brush and then it’s off to the shower.

I pull the shower curtain aside, step into the tub, and pull the curtain back. I turn on both the hot and the cold water, looking for the perfect temperature. I lather up with soap, put some shampoo in my hair, then rinse and dry off. Now it’s shaving time. I used to own an electric razor, but I found it didn’t shave close enough. So now I’m back to the old hand razor. I lather up with shaving cream, and I start to shave. I rinse the razor and throw the disposable blades in the trash. It’s about 7:00 AM, and I’m on to breakfast.

[End of story]

In this episode, we are “Cleaning Up,” or making ourselves clean.

“I go into my bathroom,” I begin the story, “sometime around 6:45 a.m.” Notice that we say a.m., but you could also say “in the morning.” 6:45 is also the same as quarter to seven. “My sink and medicine cabinet are on the left when you enter my bathroom.” In your bathroom and in your kitchen there is usually a sink and a faucet. The faucet “faucet” is where the water comes out, and normally you have hot water and cold water. The sink is where the water goes into. Usually, it is a round or a square white bowl, really, that has a hole at the bottom and we call that hole the drain (drain). That’s where the water goes down into the pipe, it’s where the water goes out of the sink. If you want to fill your sink with water, you usually have to stop the drain. “To stop a drain” means to put something over it so that the water doesn’t go down.

So, we have a faucet and we have a sink, and in your bathroom, you often have a small box, sometimes with a mirror on it so you can see yourself, that we call the medicine cabinet. A “cabinet” (cabinet) is like a small box where you put things, but it’s a box that hangs on the wall; it is attached to the wall. You can have cabinets in your kitchen, where you put your dishes. So, they’re containers, they’re things that you used to put and store or keep things.

A medicine cabinet is a place where you have medicine, but also, it’s a place where you put your other things that you use in the bathroom – things like mouthwash, shaving cream, razors, and so forth. We’ll talk about those in a second. So that’s your medicine cabinet.

In my bathroom, the “sink and the medicine cabinet are on the left” side when you walk into the bathroom; the toilet is next to that. “The toilet” (toilet) is what you use to go to the bathroom, what you use to get rid of things from your body, we might say. When you are done using the toilet, you then flush the toilet. The verb, “to flush” (flush) is when you get rid of what’s inside the toilet after you’re done using it, usually with water.

There is a tub in my bathroom. A “tub” (tub) sometimes called a bathtub, is where you can take a bath. You can fill the tub up with water and you can get into the water.

“Anyway,” I say in the story, “I turn on the lights.” Notice the use of the word “anyway.” It’s very common in English to use that word when you want to get back to something you were talking about before. We can also say, “As I was saying,” it means something similar here.

“Anyway, I turn on the lights, and try to find the mouthwash in the medicine cabinet.” The “mouthwash” (mouthwash) – all one word – is a liquid like water, but it has something in it that helps clean your teeth, clean the inside of your mouth; that is mouthwash. So, you take the mouthwash and you “pour a small amount into a cup.” The mouthwash usually comes in, or is in, a bottle. This bottle, you take and you pour some mouthwash into a cup. To pour means to take something that is liquid, like water or mouthwash, and put it somewhere else. In this case, it’s into a small cup.

After I put it into the cup, I “swish it around for 30 seconds.” “To swish (swish) something around” means to move it around, and we use that verb usually when talking about something that is liquid like water or mouthwash that you move back and forth very quickly. So, when you put the mouthwash in your mouth, usually you take your sides of your mouth, what we would call your “cheeks” (cheeks), your cheeks, and you move them back and forth, so that the mouthwash covers and cleans all of your teeth.

After “I swish it around,” I “gargle.” The verb “to gargle (gargle) means to take water and to put it into your back of your mouth. I will have to demonstrate this. It’s easier to understand if you can hear it. [Gargling sound] That’s to gargle. That’s just an extra little bonus for listening to this episode; you get to hear me gargle!

Well, after I gargle, I have to get rid of or remove the water from my mouth, and I do that by spitting. “To spit” (spit) means to take something that’s liquid, like water, and to remove it from your mouth. Usually, you make a certain sound like [spitting sound] – something like that.

Well, now we’ve gargled and spit. I say these are “Not pleasant, but necessary,” not necessarily something nice but something I have to do. After I use the mouthwash, “Then I get out,” or take out, the floss. “Floss” (floss) is a piece of string that you put in between your teeth to clean; we call that floss. And there’s a verb, “to floss,” which means to use that little piece of string.

“When I’m done flossing,” when I have finished flossing, “I pull out,” or take out, “the toothbrush and the toothpaste.” The toothbrush is what you use to clean your teeth; the toothpaste is like the soap that you use to clean your teeth. But, we do not call it tooth soap. We call it toothpaste. It comes in a container that we call a “tube,” and the tube (tube) is where the toothpaste is, and you usually squeeze the tube (squeeze) to get the toothpaste out of the tube.

So, I put some toothpaste on my toothbrush and then I brush. We use that verb, “to brush,” to mean to clean my teeth. But, we don’t say, “I’m going to clean my teeth.” Usually we say, “I’m going to brush my teeth.” That same verb, “to brush,” can also be used with your hair, when you are trying to put your hair in a certain place, a certain position. I don’t brush my hair, of course, because I don’t have any hair, but I used to, when I was younger, brush my hair.

I finished brushing my teeth, so now I’m going to take a shower. There’s a difference between taking a shower, where the water comes from the top of the wall and goes over you, and a bath, which means to fill your bathtub with water and get in. Most American homes have the tub and the shower in one place. Some homes have a separate shower and a separate tub.

In the story, I say that “I pull the shower curtain aside.” The “curtain” (curtain) is what you use to keep the water in the shower from going onto the floor. It prevents the water from leaving the shower area. We use that word, “curtain,” also for the things that you can put over your window in your house or apartment, so nobody can see inside; that’s also called a curtain.

Well, “I pull the shower curtain aside,” meaning I put it to one side, the left side or the right side. I “step into the tub, and I pull the curtain back,” I put it back in its original position. “I turn on both the hot and the cold water.” “To turn on” means that I turn the faucet on so that the water comes out. Remember, the faucet is where water comes out for a sink; it’s also where the water comes out for a tub or a shower. Actually, for the shower, the top of the shower, we don’t normally call that a faucet; we call that a showerhead (head). So, the showerhead is where the water comes out when you’re taking a shower. And, if you are drawing a bath, meaning if you are putting water into your tub to take a bath—to draw a bath—then you use the faucet. The water comes out of the faucet spout (spout). That’s the part of the faucet where the water actually comes out of.

I step into the shower, I turn on “the hot and cold water, looking for the perfect temperature,” not too hot, not too cold. “I lather up with soap.” “To lather” (lather) or to “lather up” means to take soap and put it on your skin and then put water on it, and you rub the soap and the water together until you make little bubbles, until the soap and water covers your skin. That is to lather or to lather up.

Well, “I lather up with” some “soap,” and then I “put some shampoo in my hair.” “Shampoo” (shampoo) is the soap for your head, for your hair, if you have hair. So, you take this special soap, usually it is a liquid soap, and you put it on your hair and that is called shampoo. You can also lather up your shampoo. You take your hands and you move them back and forth quickly, and that would lather up your shampoo.

Well, after you do that, then you have to get rid of the soap and the shampoo, and you do that by rinsing. “To rinse” (rinse) means to take water and get rid of the soap and the shampoo that are on your body. After you do that, then you have to dry your body off. “To dry off” means the same as to dry, but we use that expression, “to dry off,” to mean to dry, in this case, your body with a towel.

Now, it is time for me to shave. “To shave” (shave) means to remove hair, usually from your face. If you are a man and you don’t shave, you will grow a beard and a mustache; you will have hair on your face. Well, I don’t like beards and mustaches, so I shave – I use something to get rid of the hair.

The thing I use to get rid of the hair is the “razor” (razor). A razor is like a knife. It has a blade (blade) and the blade is the thing that actually cuts the hair, that removes the hair. So, you have a razor that you use to shave the whiskers from your face. A “whisker” (whisker) is the name we give the hair on your face, at least for a man, we call those whiskers. So, you can have an electric razor, like I used to have, or you can have a hand razor. A hand razor is one that is not electric that you just take and you shave by moving the razor back and forth on your face.

Before I shave, I have to “lather up with shaving cream.” We already know that word “lather up” – it means to mix the soap with water and make bubbles so that it spreads across your skin. “Shaving cream” (cream) is the special kind of soap or special kind of liquid material that you put on your face to make it easier for you to shave, so you don’t cut yourself or hurt yourself when you are shaving.

“I rinse the razor” after I am done shaving, and I “throw the disposable blades in the trash.” The blades are the things that go on top of the razor that cut the whiskers, or remove the whiskers. “Disposable” (disposable) comes from the verb “to dispose” (dispose), which means to throw away, to put in the trash, to put in the garbage. That is disposable. If something is disposable, you use it once or twice and then you throw it away. Well, these are disposable blades.

Now it’s seven o’clock when I finish showering and shaving, and I am “on to breakfast,” meaning now I am going to have my breakfast.

Let’s listen to the story again, this time at a native rate of speech.

[Start of story]

I go into my bathroom sometime around 6:45 a.m. My sink and medicine cabinet are on the left when you enter my bathroom. The toilet is next to that, with the tub in front. Anyway, I turn on the lights, and try to find the mouthwash in the medicine cabinet. I pour a small amount into a cup, swish it around for 30 seconds, gargle, and spit. Not pleasant, but necessary. Then I get out the floss. When I’m done flossing, I pull out the toothbrush and the toothpaste. I brush and then it’s off to the shower.

I pull the shower curtain aside, step into the tub, and pull the curtain back. I turn on both the hot and the cold water, looking for the perfect temperature. I lather up with soap, put some shampoo in my hair, then rinse and dry off. Now it’s shaving time. I used to own an electric razor, but I found it didn’t shave close enough. So now I’m back to the old hand razor. I lather up with shaving cream, and I start to shave. I rinse the razor and throw the disposable blades in the trash. It’s about 7:00 AM, and I’m on to breakfast.

* After eating foods with strong flavors like garlic and onion, you should use mouthwash because it covers the smell.

to swish (something) around – to quickly move a liquid around the inside of one’s mouth without drinking it

* The dentist said that I should swish mouthwash around for at least 30 seconds every morning.

to gargle – to move a liquid into the back of one’s throat without drinking it.

* Harry believes that the best cure for a sore throat is to gargle warm water with lemon juice and salt.

to spit – to push food or liquid out of one’s mouth

* When Jack was six years old, he had trouble taking medicine. He didn’t like the taste and would spit it out.

floss – a thread that is moved between teeth to clean them

* A toothbrush cleans the front and back of your teeth, but only dental floss can clean between teeth.

shower curtain – a large piece of plastic or cloth that hangs from the ceiling to the floor in front of a bathtub or shower to keep water from entering the rest of the room

* This morning Uncle Kenny forgot to close the shower curtain, so there was water all over the floor.

to lather up – to cover oneself with soap or one’s hair with shampoo

* We ran out of hot water immediately after I lathered up, so I had to wash off the soap in cold water!

shampoo – liquid soap made for cleaning hair

* People with long hair use more shampoo than people with short hair do.

to rinse off – to use water to remove soap from something

* Kelly’s son cried when she rinsed him off because she accidentally got soap in his eyes.

to shave – to remove hair from the body by using a razor that cuts the hair near the skin

* In the United States, many women shave their legs to make them look smoother.

electric razor – an electronic device for shaving

* When I was a child, I always woke up to the sound of my father using an electric razor to shave his face.

hand razor – a plastic or metal tool for shaving, held in one’s hand

* When he started shaving, he often has cuts on his chin because he didn’t know how to use a hand razor.

shaving cream – a cream, foam, or lotion that is put on the skin before shaving

* If I shave without shaving cream, my skin becomes red and itchy.

disposable blades – the flat, sharp piece of metal in a hand razor that cuts the hair and can be thrown out and replaced

* Disposable blades are more expensive than traditional blades but they never need to be re-sharpened.

Culture Note

Men’s Health

Men can take daily steps to live safer and healthier lives, and protect themselves from “disease” (illness) and “injury” (getting hurt). If you’re a man, make healthy living a part of your “daily routine” (things one does every day). There are many things you can do every day to improve your health and stay healthy. Many of them don’t take a lot of time and cost very little.

Get enough sleep: “Insufficient” (not enough) sleep is “associated with” (connected to) many “chronic” (lasting a long time) diseases and conditions, such as “cardiovascular” (related to the heart) disease and “obesity” (being very overweight). In general, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep.

Avoid smoking and “secondhand smoke” (smoke from other people’s cigarettes): “Inhaling” (breathing in) other people’s smoke causes health problems similar to those of smokers. Quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits. Within 20 minutes after smoking that last cigarette, your body begins a series of positive changes that continue for years.

“Be physically active” (exercise): Be active for at least 2.5 hours a week. Include activities that increase your breathing and heart rates and that strengthen your “muscles” (material in your body that gives you strength). You don’t have to do it “all at once” (all at the same time). “Spread” (divide) your activity out during the week, and break it into smaller “chunks” (sections; periods) of time during the day.

Get your “check-ups” (standard medical exams): Certain diseases and conditions may not have “symptoms” (signs), so check-ups help “diagnose” (identify) issues early or before they can become a problem.

Get “vaccinated” (shots to prevent disease): Even if you had vaccines as a child, “immunity” (inability to get a disease) can “fade” (disappear slowly) with time. Whether a young, middle-aged, or older adult, we all need vaccinations to keep us healthy.